Sunday, April 10, 2011

REMEMBERING DIRECTOR SIDNEY LUMET

The NY Times has a great review of the career of Signey Lumet, director of such great film classics as 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Network, Prince of the City, The Pawnbroker, The Wiz and Dog Day Afternoon, amongst many others. His work in 12 Angry Men and Serpico were particularly compelling to me as a young man.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/movies/sidney-lumet-director-of-american-classics-dies-at-86.html?hp

Serpico was one of those stories that captured my interest right away. No matter how many times I see that movie, the real life scene where Frank Serpico is abandoned by his fellow officers and gets stuck doing an entry and gets shot in the face always makes me cringe, and I've seen the movie several times in the last 35 years as well as having read the book by Peter Maas several times.

I always admired Serpico as an honorable cop. He didn't deserve what happened to him in any number of scenarios, and I hope he's found peace in his life.

There aren't movie makers like Mr. Lumet anymore. Too bad. Rest in peace, Mr. Lumet and thanks for the films that made us think and perhaps gave a few people insights into their conscience that they didn't have before they watched one of your films.

1 comment:

  1. I was just thinking the other day how Sidney Lumet is one of very few directors who, of all the things I've seen by them, none of them were even remotely bad. Rest in peace, bud.

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